A new years resolution

At this time around the Winter Solstice, the element we work with on this stage of the wheel is Earth.

It is from this place that all life grows, and where on the surface it looks like not a lot is happening outside right now, in fact there are great stirrings going on in the darkness of the soil, in preparation for the spring. Life comes from the darkness, and it’s shown beautifully in the image above.

We are already starting to see the bulbs peeking up through the ground, as they are working their way up right now. Similarly with a baby, it spends it first nine months in the darkness, growing to reach a perfect form ready to burst into the world and begin life.

With us too, we can use this dark winter time to begin to prepare for new projects and new beginnings to emerge in the spring. What would you like to achieve in 2016? What stirrings do you have going on deep inside which you are looking to bring forth in the spring?

Use these long winter nights to prepare to put the first steps in place. Journey for guidance, carry out some research, contemplate on your vision, and ask family and friends for advice. Start to plan what you might do with your idea or project in early spring as the spring bulbs push through the darkness into the light. Think about how you might use the abundant spring energies of Beltane to really give it some energy, and where you might like to be with it come harvest time in late summer and early autumn.

When it comes to setting new years resolutions, they are so easy to make and often hard to keep. So, why not approach them by working with the wheel of the year. Nature knows how to transform, and is brilliant at it. If you are not already aligning your life with the cycles now is a great time to start, in the darkness, where all creativity emerges. Enjoy!

The ‘Wander the Wheel’ sabbat events

If you would like to work with the energies at each stage of the wheel of the year, do consider coming along to our Wander the Wheel sabbat events.

This year we will be gathering every six weeks to celebrate the wheel of the year, in our new Wander the Wheel day-long workshops. We will spend the day close to our home in Anglezarke, Lancashire, with time in an old converted stable block, and out on the moorlands and in the meadows and woodlands, and at local ancient sacred sites.

Each workshop is focused on drawing on the powerful transformational energies at each stage in our solar year. It’s a chance to connect in with other aligned souls and to deepen together in our shamanic practice of our land.